VMS to make senior executive changes

NEW YORK: Industry changes are spurring a shake-up of executive-level staff at monitoring and analysis firm VMS.

CEO Peter Wengryn said by the end of 2010, he will have made changes to top management at the company, though he didn't specify which positions and how many will be impacted. However, sources tell PRWeek that three senior executives have been told that their positions will be eliminated within the next few months, including CMO and seven-year VMS veteran Michael Giovia.

Founded in 1981, VMS has primarily offered an array of media monitoring and measurement services to corporate PR departments and agencies. But with the recent recession slashing away at PR budgets, more companies want information that bolsters ROI and analysis that justifies PR spending, Wengryn said.

“We are transitioning from a monitoring company to a media intelligence company,” he said. “A traditional monitoring company is not where the growth is going to be.”

The private company, which employees between 750 and 1000 people in offices nationwide, was impacted by the recession Wengryn said. He added that the looming position changes will have a very small impact on overall staff.

With the restructuring, “we have to make sure we have people that have experience on the marketing and PR side of the business,” he said.